First-responder from Collingwood died by suicide earlier this week

Sometimes it's not enough: how one PTSD survivor tries to save others

Barrie Today
Erika Engel
November 23, 2018

“Support for families is what we found was lacking,” said Angie Stevens, Bryan’s wife. While Bryan was first dealing with symptoms of PTSD and occupational stress, Angie didn’t know where to turn. “You go into this silent position because you don’t want to tarnish their image,” said Angie. “So you try to help them on your own.”

Bryan Stevens is the founder of Frontline Forward. Erika Engel/CollingwoodToday

A former air ambulance advanced care paramedic may no longer be treating wounds mid-air, but he is still caring for the wounded and broken.

Bryan Stevens is the founder of Frontline Forward, an organization and facility designed to support and educate front-line workers affected by occupational stress and dealing with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

He experienced PTSD first-hand and made the decision to retire early as a result. Through a support system, professional counselling, physical therapy, meditation and more, Stevens has learned to cope with PTSD and work through the symptoms.

“Thank God I battled through it, but it’s still a challenge,” said Stevens. “You can have all the right people around you and things to support you and still sometimes that may not be enough”

A first-responder from Collingwood died by suicide earlier this week. Mike Scott was a firefighter at Central York Fire Services in the Newmarket and Aurora area. Before that, he was a firefighter on The Blue Mountains Fire Department. Scott’s family asked for donations to Frontline Forward in lieu of flowers.

Stevens said Scott was a good friend, and the two talked often about working as a first responder and dealing with PTSD. Scott’s funeral is today, and Stevens came to Collingwood with his wife, Angie, to attend the service.

“It’s a heavy burden to carry all this hurt,” said Stevens, quoting a song by country singer Kevin Davidson, a former first-responder. “We have to come to understand we don’t need to carry all that burden.”

Understanding was the first hurdle for Stevens, a 30-year veteran paramedic with 12 years in Peel Region (Mississauga) and 18 years as an advanced care paramedic for Ornge based in London.
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Four Police Officers among the wounded in Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh synagogue mass shooting claims 11 lives; 4 officers among multiple wounded: Officials

"First responders prevented the shooting from becoming a worse tragedy, and the injured have been taken to three area hospitals with level one trauma centers. Without their courage, this tragedy would have been far worse." Alleghany Public Safety Director Wendell Hissrich

read more from ABC News

'Darkest day in Pittsburgh's history': Officials discuss new details in Squirrel Hill massacre

Pittsburgh Post Gazette Shelly Bradbury and Ashley Murray October 28,2018 Law enforcement officers, prosecutors and others discussed the latest details of Saturday’s mass shooting at Tree of Life Congregation in Squirrel Hill at a Sunday morning press conference.

The 11 people killed inside a Squirrel Hill synagogue Saturday included a husband and wife and two brothers, authorities said Sunday. 

The victims, who ranged in age from 54 to 97, were identified as: Joyce Fienberg, 75, of Oakland

Richard Gottfried, 65, of Ross

Rose Mallinger, 97, of Squirrel Hill

Jerry Rabinowitz, 66, of Edgewood

brothers Cecil Rosenthal, 59, of Squirrel Hill, and David Rosenthal, 54, of Squirrel Hill

married couple Bernice Simon, 84, and Sylvan Simon, 86, of Wilkinsburg

Daniel Stein, 71, of Squirrel Hill

Melvin Wax, 88, of Squirrel Hill

Irving Younger, 69, of Mt. Washington. 

read more here

What is your purpose now?

Types of vehicles have different purposes

PTSD Patrol
Kathie Costos
October 28, 2018

We choose vehicles based on what we like and what we need to do. If you need to clear snow, then you would want to have a snow plow. While a plow will clear snow, it would not be good to put one on a race track. That is, unless you plan on clearing other cars by shoving them out of the way.

On the other hand, a race car is meant for speed, and could clear snow very fast with a plow attached to it. The trouble is, it would not be able to do it very long.

When I was young, I wanted to be a writer. I always thought that I would be writing horror novels, instead of surviving horrors. Now I write about horrors in a much different way.

I could look at my life and think that it went off track, because while I wrote three books, I have not finished one of the several horror books I started. I am not sure what to even find the manuscripts now. I did not choose this work. My life did.

Most of us think we are supposed to do something and it sucks when we cannot do them, for one reason or another. You may think that because your job caused you to be invaded by PTSD, you cannot save anyone anymore.

That is because you are not looking at how many you can still save by letting them know there is hope for their lives too. 

Think about the group of veterans in TEAM RUBICON. They are no longer in the military, but used their training and desire to help by responding to disasters. They put their lives on the line all the time because they put others first, just like they did in the military.

Find what you do best and then find a different way to do it. Being of service to others comes in many different ways. You can still be true to the core of who you are, even though how you do it changed. #TakeBackYourLife
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Google thanks First Responders a million times

Google donates $1 million to First Responder Support Network to assist with PTSD recovery

9to5 Google
Ben Schoon
Oct. 26th 2018

The First Responder Support Network (FRSN) was developed by and for first responders. Their goal is to provide education and assistance to those still recovering from incidents that impact their day-to-day life and thoughts, such as a child who didn’t make it or a wounded colleague.

With all of the disasters that happen around the world nowadays, we sometimes forget about the first responders whose career it is to be on-site at these tragic events. Today, Google is donating $1 million to the First Responder Support Network to assist in helping these first responders with PTSD and other aspects of recovery.

Google announced in a post today on The Keyword that the company would be making this donation to the First Responders Support Network. The FRSN provides support for first responders who are dealing with PTSD and other issues following incidents.

The network offers one-week residential programs for first responders to help educate, and help them cope with their situations. The waiting list for this program can often be up to 6 months long.
read more here

Thanking First Responders

Suicide Awareness groups need to Stand Down!

Why think about only one way out of pain?

This is the result of all the suicide awareness groups delivering their deadly message. It is all over social media and in every email box filling up with stunts being pulled in your area.

If you have one of these groups, you need to stand down so that the rest of us can do our jobs. If you are serious about changing the outcome, then help us!

Keep all the money you are getting. Most of us do not want it because most of us have been doing the work for free! For the sake of those we are all supposed to be trying to help, help us get the message out that they can heal and suicide is not the only way out of their pain!

Stand Down on the message of death and stand up the message of hope that they can heal. Fight PTSD and #TakeBackYourLife instead of constantly reminding them of how far to many never heard they could!

This video is about first responders, Firefighters and Police Officers as well as National Guards members. It won an award from the IFOC back in 2008 when it was originally uploaded on YouTube.

Local first responder: ‘I felt the only way out was to kill myself’

WHIO
By: Gabrielle Enright
October 25, 2018

Like many full-time organizations, his deputies have access to mental health professionals. However, many first responders argue that more help is needed especially for small police and fire departments with part-timers and volunteers.

Marshall Gorby/Staff

— For most of us, the worst thing that happens at work is our boss gets angry or we lose a client. But for our first responders, work means a daily encounter with danger and death. Ben Norrod's 13 years as a Jefferson Township Firefighter had a heartbreaking start.

"Three months into my career, I had my first full (cardiac) arrest and it was a two-year old child," said Norrod. "We got back to the station and I just sat here and cried and I almost didn't want to do it anymore."

"The pain, it was overwhelming. I felt the only way out was to kill myself," Norrod said.

He is not alone. Suicide rates among first responders in the U.S. are soaring. The latest statistics show 103 firefighters and 140 police officers died by suicide last year. That is compared to 93 firefighters and 129 police officer line of duty deaths.

"If it takes one life, it's a problem," said Greene County Sheriff Gene Fischer.
read more here

Report shows emergency responders are committing suicide more than line of duty deaths

FARGO, N.D. (Valley News Live)- "I think a lot of it has to do with the tendency of firefighters, police officers, EMS workers. We see a lot day to day, and we kind of hold it in a lot. We don't really talk about it," says Dan Fuller, Chief at West Fargo Fire Department.

Emergency responders put their lives on the line to protect and keep us safe.

With the unpredictability of the job comes a lot of stress, which can cause mental health challenges.

A new report shows that in 2017, firefighters and police officers are taking their own lives more times compared to them being killed in the line duty.

First responders are the first ones on scene, seeing some of the most tragic events. This can cause mental health challenges for some firefighters and police officers.

"The job itself is stressful because of the situations that we go to every single day, they're different from one to the next," says Jessica Schindeldecker, Fargo PD Crime Prevention and Public Information Officer.

A report shows that in 2017, there were 103 firefighters and 140 police officers who committed suicide compared to the 93 firefighters and 129 police officers who died in the line of duty.
read more on Valley News Live

‘Ask for Help:’ Husband of First Responder Speaks Out after She Took Her Own Life

SACRAMENTO -- Suicides among first responders are not uncommon.

It's a pain Marc Zayas knows very well.

"She was incredible. She did a lot in her short amount of time," Zayas said, remembering his wife, Chelsea Fox.

Zayas' 36-year-old wife was a former firefighter and veteran 911 dispatcher for the California Department of Forestry for the past 12 years. She excelled at her job but with that came overwhelming stress, chronic back pain and issues with opioid addiction.

"We're dealing with people on their worst day," Zayas said. "They don't call 911 for anything. So, you're dealing with someone on their worst day."

That stress ultimately led to her to take her own life last month.read more on FOX 40 News

CHP officer dies of self-inflicted gunshot wound

A California Highway Patrol officer killed himself Tuesday afternoon near Elk Grove with a self-inflicted gunshot wound, the CHP said.

Officer Sean Poore, 31, a nine-year veteran, was found dead in his patrol vehicle, the CHP said.

Sacramento County coroner’s records show he was found on Lambert Road beneath the Interstate 5 overpass, and broadcasts of scanner traffic maintained by Broadcastify.com indicate fire and Elk Grove police were dispatched to the scene shortly after 5:30 p.m. Tuesday for a report of an “unresponsive” person.read more on Sacramento Bee

85% First Responders dealing with mental health issues from job

THE CALIFORNIA REPORT

'A Little Broken' - First Responders Grapple With Unseen Scars of the 2017 Fire Siege

KQED News

Sukey Lewis

October 12, 2018

Shortly after Lucas Boek joined his local fire department, he saw a veteran firefighter walk into firehouse and drop all his gear. “’That’s it, I’m done,’” Boek remembers the man saying. “’I can’t do this anymore.’ And he left.”

A Cal Fire firefighter watches for spot fires from a controlled burn at the edge of the Ranch Fire in 2018. (Anne Wernikoff/KQED)

Over the years, the incident stuck with him.

Now, Boek is sitting and talking with two other men in a Ukiah high school classroom. Between the three — medic Corey Bender, 44, and firefighters Lucas Boek, 40, and Brendan Turner, 46 — they have nearly 60 years of experience in emergency response. Sixty years of running toward car accidents, gunshots and flames.

But it’s not the physical danger of the work that these guys are talking about today.

It’s something else, something that until recently has been pretty difficult to discuss openly: their mental health. A 2017 study found that police officers and firefighters are more likely to die by suicide than in the line of duty. Another survey done last year by the University of Phoenix found that 85 percent of first responders have symptoms related to mental health issues.

read more here

Allentown Firefighters need help to fight PTSD

Local firefighters union Allentown 302 president speaks against PTSD

WFMZ 69 News
Josh Rultenberg
October 12, 2018

In a statement Schlossberg says "Jeremy Warmkessel's op-ed today couldn't have been more accurate. Our first responders deal with so much, and they deserve more than we are giving them now."

ALLENTOWN, Pa., - It's been almost two weeks since a man blew himself up in a car in Allentown along with his 2-year-old child and another man.

"Typically, we're not going to a scene of that magnitude on a regular basis and thank goodness for that," said the president of the local firefighters union Allentown 302 Jeremy Warmkessel.

But first responders did respond to the explosion which Warmkessel says hit home.

"Anytime that you have a situation that involves children, no matter what the situation is, I think people tend to take it a little bit harder," said Warmkessel.

That incident, among others, is why Warmkessel, wrote an op-ed about PTSD in the Morning Call.

"Inside Allentown in the last 20 years we've suffered three suicides. So it's real and it's on a grand scale," said Warmkessel.
read more here

11 year old girl killed inside house from carport room

After pummeling Florida and Georgia, deadly Michael heads to the Carolinas
CNN
By Nicole Chavez
October 11, 2018

An 11-year-old girl was killed in Seminole County, Georgia during the storm, emergency management officials said. A metal carport was picked up by the wind and crashed through the roof of a structure, hitting the girl's head, said Travis Brooks, the county's emergency management director. Brooks said several hours passed before emergency officials could reach the unincorporated area where the incident took place.

Residents rescue a couple of dogs after the storm destroyed several buildings in Panama City.

CNN) After slamming Florida and lashing Georgia, Michael is far from finished as it swirls northeast, threatening the storm-weary Carolinas.

Since making landfall on Wednesday as a powerful Category 4 hurricane, the now tropical storm has left thousands of people without power, uprooted trees, turned homes and marinas into ruins and killed at least 2 people.

"It feels like a nightmare," Linda Albrecht, a councilwoman in Mexico Beach, Florida, said of the catastrophic damage in her town. "Somebody needs to come up and shake you and wake you up." The wrath of Michael continued into Georgia, bringing possible tornadoes and winds that kept first responders away from the streets for hours --- even as the storm weakened and became a tropical storm.

On Thursday, authorities and residents will begin to discover the full extent of Michael's destruction in Florida and Georgia while the Carolinas brace for possible flooding, tornadoes and dangerous winds in many of the same areas still recovering from Hurricane Florence flooding.
read more here

Live updates on Hurricane Michael

Hurricane Michael Military News

Hurlburt to close as Hurricane Michael bears down on Florida
Air Force Times
By: Stephen Losey
October 9, 2018 UPDATE

A T-38 pilot at Tyndall Air Force Base prepares to evacuate his aircraft to avoid the path of Hurricane Michael Oct. 8, 2018. The evacuating Tyndall aircraft will reposition to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, and other locations around the country, and will return when the storm danger has passed. (Senior Airman Cody Miller/Air Force)

Tuesday update: Hurlburt Field in Florida announced Tuesday that it will close at 6 p.m. as Hurricane Michael — now strengthened to a Category 2 storm — continued to close in on the Gulf Coast.

All civilian employees and military service members at Hurlburt, except those in mission-essential positions needed to provide essential services, are excused from duty until further notice, the base said in a release.

The 1st Special Operations Wing commander, Col. Michael Conley, said in a Facebook post Tuesday that although conditions do not warrant a mandatory evacuation, personnel have the right to evacuate based on what they feel is best for them and the safety of their family.
read more here

Hurricane Michael Packs 110-MPH Winds As It Heads Toward Florida Panhandle
NPR
Bill Chappell and Emily Sullivan
October 9, 2018
Heard on Morning Edition

FEMA is already on the ground in Florida; other federal agencies are also preparing to assist people in the storm's path.

The governor activated 750 National Guardsmen for storm response on Monday, on top of the 500 activated the day before. The Florida National Guard has over 4,000 more Guard members available for deployment, Scott said.

The NHC says some coastal regions can expect 8 to 12 feet of storm surge, as the hurricane's winds drive a wall of water onto the low-lying shore.
read more here

Foundation says 2 firefighters commit suicide every week

Firefighter’s widow shares husband’s battle with PTSD, hopes to help others
KOLD 13 News
By Heather Janssen
October 7, 2018

He took his own life in April of 2017.
“To see him lose hope in himself from all the things he experienced was absolutely paralyzing,” she explained. His struggles with PTSD impacted the entire family, but the Samaniegos' story doesn’t stand alone.

TUCSON, AZ (Tucson News Now) - Helping others was second nature for Jose Samaniego, until he was the one who needed the help.

“(He was) so selfless. He was so laser focused on helping other people,” his wife, Serena Samaniego, explained.

He was a loving husband, a devoted dad, and a dedicated Golder Ranch firefighter.

But Jose struggled with post-traumatic stress and addiction. What he witnessed at work often haunted him when he got home.

Serena saw it firsthand.

“It was the middle of the night nightmares and not being able to sleep. It was being distracted and irritable throughout the day,” she said.

These were all signs of his struggle as he became imprisoned in his own mind, until he couldn't handle the battle anymore.

Mike McKendrick runs the Greater Tucson Fire Foundation. He said it’s likely two firefighters take their lives each week.
read more here

Female Firefighter takes on PTSD and Ironman!

Woman to compete in Louisville Ironman wearing firefighter gear for PTSD awareness
WDRB News
By Fallon Glick
October 5th 2018

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- If you think competing in an Ironman is tough, imagine what it's like in full firefighter gear.

That's exactly what Diana Woolf will be doing at the Louisville Ironman next weekend. The 47-year-old has been a firefighter for 23 years, and she’s raising awareness about PTSD among firefighters.

“I've lost friends. I mean, if my husband wasn't a firefighter, I probably would have lost him,” Woolf said while acknowledging her own PTSD. “And myself, I contemplated suicide at one point.”

Woolf found herself in hole she couldn't climb out of because her PTSD until she started competing in triathlons. In a way, it acted as therapy. Now, the Village of Highland Hills, Ohio, firefighter is gearing up, literally, for the Louisville Ironman.

“The jackets, the pants, I wear the liners, which is a huge portion of our gear," Woolf said. "It's like a thermal barrier, but it also contains a lot of heat, which is what makes it most difficult. I wear the helmet, and then I wear the air pack on my back."

She'll be wearing all 37 pounds of it during the marathon portion of the Ironman. She hopes to shed light on the silent killer, because she said most firefighters aren't talking about PTSD.

“They're not saying they're having problems, because it is such a sign of weakness, which is the point of why I'm doing this ... to show that you're not weak," Woolf said. "You complete a full Ironman in fire gear, and you can have PTSD, so just come out and say 'I have problems. I need help,'"

Woolf said, statistically, more firefighters die of suicide related to PTSD than line-of-duty deaths.
read more here

Turn on your hazard lights

Flash for a healing chance
PTSD Patrol
Kathie Costos
October 7, 2018

When your vehicle is having trouble, there is a simple button you push to let others know you need help. It turns on your hazard lights.

Everyone behind you sees those lights. They will either pass you by with caution, or they may try to help you.

This is from WheelZine
When to Use Hazard Lights
Though most people use hazard lights for mundane and unimportant things like speaking on the cell-phone while in traffic (which is illegal, mind you) or lighting a cigarette or adjusting the music system, the actual purpose behind the installation of these lights is to communicate a possible danger to the oncoming or passing traffic. Given below are some of the occasions when you can and should use hazard lights.

• When you are experiencing a sudden car problem in the middle of traffic, switch on the lights and slowly pull over. Keep the lights flashing till the problem is solved.
• In case of dense fog, you can switch on the hazard lights to warn traffic on both the sides of the road.
• When traffic on a usually traffic-free road is slow or stalled for some reason, you can turn on the hazard lights to indicate to the traffic behind you that traffic ahead of you is stalled.
• Another situation in which you can turn on hazard lights is when you are moving up a steep slope, which has caused your vehicle to slow down considerably. The blinkers will tell the vehicles behind you to proceed with caution.

In the 70's we had Mood Rings that were supposed to let other people know how we were feeling.
read more here

Fire Department Captain opens up about PTSD and being courageous

Local firefighter opens up about dark side of the job
By: MADELYN JANSSEN
Posted: Sep 27, 2018

Robinson wants other first responders to know it's not only ok, but good to talk about how the calls affect them. And he wants to be an example of how you can come out the other side, and find a path back to happiness. Society, friends and family can all play a part in breaking the stigma around asking for help. "Ask the tough questions if you think someone is struggling. You will never regret asking, you will regret not asking."

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. - "Suck it up buttercup." That's the stigma Kern County Fire Department Captain Derek Robinson is fighting to change. He's been with the department for more than 17 years. It was only last year that he himself dropped the act, and decided it was time to ask for help. In August he detailed that fight to overcome his emotional injuries, in a Facebook post. He's sharing that to help reach anyone else struggling with the same demons.

A study last year said first responders are more likely to die from suicide than in the line of duty. PTSD and depression rates among first responders are as much as five times higher than among civilians. Robinson didn't realize for years that he was among those suffering. But the Friday after Thanksgiving 2017 he was called to a scene that changed that. A family was ripped apart by a drunk driver. A mother and child killed in a crash along Highway 99. "You can't respond and not feel something, especially when you see the impact on the family. Here's a family on Thanksgiving day traveling and their lives were not just interrupted, but completely destroyed and they lost a mother and a child, you can't absorb that. You just can't." Robinson suffered from sleepless nights. He turned to self-medication at times. He lost relationships and lost his passion for the job. 

Years of repeated exposure to trauma had taken their toll. It was a month after that Thanksgiving crash that Robinson decided to seek help. That changed everything. "Where I am now is drastically different from where I am today by getting help. This is more of an injury and same as a physical injury it can be dealt with."
read more here

"Break the stigma of mental health in public service"

New Florida law will allow first responders to claim benefits for PTSD
ABC 7 News
by Annie Hubbell
September 21st 2018

Under the law, a first responder must be diagnosed with PTSD after witnessing one of seven qualifying events, all including death, and the claim has to be filed within 90 days of it happening.

Fire officials hope a new law will help break the stigma of mental health in public service.

When you're in work mode, you're in autopilot," Assistant Chief of Operations for North Collier Fire and Rescue John McMahon said. "The problem occurs when the individual is done with that call. That person then goes back to being a human being."

Starting October 1, Florida worker's compensation benefits for first responders will now include Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. PTSD is a psychiatric disorder when a person experiences a traumatic event.
read more here
ABC-7.com WZVN News for Fort Myers, Cape Coral and Naples, Florida


Think about the part where it said, "a traumatic event" which is how civilians end up getting hit by PTSD. Now think about how many of them you experience in your career. If they can get it from one time, which turns out to be over 7 million Americans, then it should be easy to accept the fact that no matter how tough you are, the odds are, you will need help too!

The 90 days is more than a problem about filing a claim. The truth is, the sooner you get help to heal, the better the chances are, the worst will not happen. As soon as you get help to heal from what you survived, you begin to #TakeBackYourLife.

If you have a hard time understanding what PTSD is, this may help. I created it for National Guards and Reservists, but it was used to help first responders. I even got an award for it back in 2008 from the IFOC.

During tragedy, blessings from Samaritans

Good Samaritans help military Humvee submerged in Florence floodwaters
ABC 11 News
Gary Cooper
September 11, 2018

JACKSONVILLE, N.C. (WTVD) -- What happens when the rescuers need rescuing?

That's what happened in Jacksonville, North Carolina, on Saturday after rains from Hurricane Florence flooded the city.

A marine and two first responders from Onslow County tried to get a military Humvee through a very flooded Half Moon Creek.

And when the Humvee didn't make it, several good Samaritans, who were taking supplies from back to the other side of the creek, jumped in to help.
read more here

"Cajun Navy" volunteers help evacuate North Carolina nursing home residents
CBS News
September 17, 2018

A group of volunteers all too familiar with devastating flooding have gone to North Carolina to help in the aftermath of Florence. Cajun Navy Relief and Rescue is a non-profit group of volunteers from across the country. The group was created after flooding hit southern Louisiana in 2016.

CBS News was with the team in Lumberton as they evacuated 40 people from Highland Acres Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. Many of the residents were bedridden.

"Yeah, we are risking our lives, but this is worth it," said Chris Russell, one of the volunteers.

It took five hours to rescue the residents and deliver them to area hospitals.

"I think what we were able to accomplish tonight, was to give these people some dignity, holding their hand, asking them if they would like to somebody to pray with them," said Allen Lenard, another volunteer. "As much as I believe were were a blessing to those people, I know as a matter of fact, that they were a blessing to me tonight."
read more here

Who Drives You?

Have you decided to get into your life and drive?
PTSD Patrol Sunday Morning Empowerment Zone
Kathie Costos
August 12, 2018

When you are a passenger, you do not control anything. Someone else is in control of where you go, how fast you get there and how safe your trip is.

When you are the driver, then you decide all of it! Where you go and how fast you get there is all up to the decisions you make.

There are things you decide in your own life. Do you want to be happy? Do you want to stay miserable?

How you live can change just as it did when you survived the events that caused PTSD. This time, it can change for the better!

PTSD is change, so, change again! It is your life. Get in and drive it instead of letting it drive you!

PTSD Patrol Sunday Morning Empowerment Zone topic is are you a passenger in your own life or a driver?

read more here 

Firefighters and Paramedics PTSD Levels Near Combat Veterans

The other victims: First responders to horrific events often suffer in solitude
Tampa Bay Times
By Heidi de Marco, Kaiser Health News
Published: July 9, 2018

The "first responders" who provide emergency aid have been hit hard not just by recent large-scale disasters but by the accumulation of stress and trauma over many years, research shows. Many studies have found elevated rates of post-traumatic stress disorder among nurses, firefighters and paramedics. A 2016 report by the International Association of Fire Fighters found that firefighters and paramedics are exhibiting levels of PTSD similar to that of combat veterans.

Medical personnel tend to a victim after the Feb. 14 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. The "first responders" who provide emergency aid have been hit hard not just by recent large-scale disasters but by the accumulation of stress and trauma over many years, research shows. [Sun Sentinel]

The day a gunman fired into a crowd of 22,000 people at the country music festival in Las Vegas, hospital nursing supervisor Antoinette Mullan was focused on one thing: saving lives.

She recalls dead bodies on gurneys across the triage floor, a trauma bay full of victims. But "in that moment, we’re not aware of anything else but taking care of what’s in front of us," Mullan said.

Proud as she was of the work her team did, she calls it "the most horrific evening of my life" — the culmination of years of searing experiences she has tried to work through, mostly on her own.

"I can tell you that after 30 years, I still have emotional breakdowns and I never know when it’s going to hit me," said Mullan.

Calamities seem to be multiplying in recent years, including mass shootings, fires, hurricanes and mudslides. Just last month, a gunman burst into the newsroom of the Capital Gazette in Annapolis, Md., killing five journalists and injuring two others.

Many of the men and women who respond to these tragedies have become heroes and victims at once. Some firefighters, emergency medical providers, law enforcement officers and others say the scale, sadness and sometimes sheer gruesomeness of their experiences haunt them, leading to tearfulness and depression, job burnout, substance abuse, relationship problems, even suicide.

Many, like Mullan, are stoic, forgoing counseling even when it is offered.

"I don’t have this sense that I need to go and speak to someone," said Mullan. "Maybe I do, and I just don’t know it."
read more here

Transmission out of surrendering to PTSD

Are you transitioning or surrendering?
PTSD Patrol
Kathie Costos
July 8, 2018

Life is about transitioning from one place to another. In this case, we're talking about the transition from surrendering to something that happened into being a survivor and using your transmission to move you forward.

WHAT DOES A TRANSMISSION DO? 
From Meineke
How Does an Automatic Transmission Work?

An automatic transmission is essentially an automatic gear shifter...Have you ever heard the sound of your engine getting higher, then lower as your car accelerates? A car in a low gear will start struggle as its pushed to higher speeds. A car with an automatic transmission has a torque converter that senses these changes as you accelerate and shifts you to a higher gear. The same process works in reverse as you slow down.

TRANSITION

movement, passage, or change from one position, state, stage, subject, concept, etc., to another; change: the transition from adolescence to adulthood.
Music.
a passing from one key to another; modulation.
a brief modulation; a modulation used in passing.
a sudden, unprepared modulation.
a passage from one scene to another by sound effects, music, etc., as in a television program, theatrical production, or the like.

There are things you may have told yourself, that are simply not true!

The first lie is when you told yourself there was something wrong with you. The truth is, there is something strong within you!

If you chose a job where you knew it could kill you, military, law enforcement, firefighting or any of the other jobs protecting others, that choice came from a very strong emotional core.

Civilians can get hit by PTSD from just one event in their lives. When you consider how many events you survived, it should make more sense that you would get hit harder, than escape it because of your training.

You may be resilient, but that does not mean you are impervious to what your jobs did to you.

If you do not have PTSD, then make sure that you keep doing the steps for Crisis Intervention for yourself. That starts with being able to open up about what you witnessed from an emotional level, not just a tactical one.

Every time I survived something that could have killed me, I was able to talk about all of it knowing I mattered to someone. It helped me get out the ugliness of what I was faced with so that good stuff could get back in.
read more here